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The Gift That Is Lois Lerner

I was going to write about CaterpillarCaterpillar this week – the tractor maker, not the bug – and the fact that some senators are outraged over the company’s ability to minimize taxes by using the rules Congress gave it. But then the latest chapter in the so called IRS scandal occurred. And I was spurred to read the letter from the House Ways and Means Committee – perhaps, more accurately, the Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee – asking the attorney general to conduct a criminal investigation of Lois Lerner, the IRS official at the heart of the exempt organization debacle. It was Lerner who first spilled the beans that the IRS was inappropriately handling the exemption applications of some conservative groups.

I learned some new things in reading the letter. And when you see all of what the Ways and Means Committee compiled about Lerner, it hardly paints a pretty picture of her. To me, it certainly shows that she did many stupid things and that she probably abused her power as a high-ranking IRS official. Did she break the law? I don’t know, but that is why I agree with Ways and Means Republicans that there should be a Justice Department investigation – although I thought one was already going on.

The bad behavior going on at the IRS – whether it is politically motivated or not – does not stop with Lerner. It has to go higher than that. How much higher, I do not know, but that’s yet another reason why we need an investigation – a real one.

And that is why I think the Ways and Means Republicans are doing the IRS – and, perhaps, the Obama administration – a huge favor. Making Lerner the scapegoat changes the conversation. It makes it about her. It’s not about her. It’s about the IRS. Something bad happened here. And however bad her behavior, the problem isn’t Lerner. The problem is a culture that allows what she did to continue and that probably allows behavior that’s much, much worse. That is what new IRS Commissioner John Koskinen must deal with.

And here is where I agree to some degree with Ways and Means Democrats. The GOP committee members have become so obsessed with the political dimensions of this scandal that they are forgetting their job — a job they actually explain at the top of the letter to the DOJ. Their job is not to fix blame; it’s to fix the problem. Their job is not to destroy the IRS; it is to protect the rights of ALL American taxpayers. This scandal isn’t about Lerner; it’s about our tax system. If all of this goes to the White House, so be it. But it’s about getting to the truth, not getting to the president of the United States. You’d think the GOP would have learned that from Monica Lewinsky. Think what you want about that so-called scandal, but I think this so-called scandal poses a far bigger threat to the country.

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“Their job is not to fix blame; it’s to fix the problem. Their job is not to destroy the IRS; it is to protect the rights of ALL American taxpayers. This scandal isn’t about Lerner; it’s about our tax system. If all of this goes to the White House, so be it. But it’s about getting to the truth, not getting to the president of the United States.” This is a Duuuuuuhhhhhhhh moment!

Chris Bergin is correct this should not be about Lerner, however 10 months have been lost projecting what involvement there is beyond her. Time has mitigated the national outrage. The only hope to move beyond the collusive obstruction of her refusing to testify while those she holds the goods on profess her innocence is to throw every piece of evidence they have at her and make the culprits nervous enough to actually get actively involved in shielding her. The public will then decide whether these are the statesmen they deserve.

In addition to acting against Lerner there should be explicit and continuous exposition of the encouragement she received from the administration and the liberal congress. These very organizations which she targeted, most of which have now self qualified should engage in aggressive public information campaigns about the nature of this scandal and expose everyone complicit with actual quotes and Video where it exists. This public information about government corruption and abuse of power is social welfare in its purest sense.

“To me, it certainly shows that she did many stupid things and that she probably abused her power as a high-ranking IRS official. Did she break the law? I don’t know, but that is why I agree with Ways and Means Republicans that there should be a Justice Department investigation – although I thought one was already going on.”

Um, the committee is charged with finding out if she broke the law, and JD is charged with prosecuting her if they do. Not the other way around. Holder has proven time and again he will not prosecute the Obama administration, so why would you think his investigation is legit, when his boss said there is not a smidgin of evidence to show a crime was committed? You yourself said you don’t know. So Lerner must be forced to tell the truth if we really want to know what happened.

I worked for the IRS, and I have to say the problems are entrenched in the IRS culture. The IRS has a bullying culture. Management bullying of employees is extensive. Some employees are bullied to the point where management actually physically assaults an employee and nothing is done to fix the problem. The amount of bullying of some employees is grotesque. It took five executives to harass one good employee out the door. The recent spate of scandals are just the tip of an iceberg where managers use employees as personal punching bags.